BOE meets via Zoom, discusses election and budget proposal

MILLBROOK — Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tuesday, March 31, meeting of the Millbrook Central School District Board of Education (BOE) was conducted via Zoom, a cloud platform for video and audio conferencing; it was not open to the public. The board began with an executive session to discuss a hiring; the regular meeting resumed shortly afterward. The consent agenda was accepted, as were the minutes from the prior meeting on March 17.

A service contract was approved for providing health services in the Spackenkill Union Free School District to one Millbrook resident student who attends Spackenkill, at a cost of $1,143.13.

The firm of Sickler, Torchia, Allen & Churchill CPAs PC has been engaged as of March 17 to audit the school district’s financial statements of its governmental activities for the year ending June 30, 2020.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Laura Mitchell gave an update on the March 31 launch of Continuity of Learning during the pandemic, announced limited access to district buildings and playgrounds, and said the deadline for non-public transportation requests has been extended to Wednesday, April 15. Also discussed were supplies donated to the Cardinal Hayes School and to the Dutchess County Emergency Response Center.

Mitchell also noted the school budget vote and BOE elections will be postponed until, at the earliest, June 1. She also announced that school districts may have the flexibility to continue some construction projects at this time, but the district is waiting for more clarification from the state. There was also some discussion of providing childcare for first responders and health care providers.

Assistant Superintendent for Business, Finance and Operations Brian Fried presented a workshop for the 2020-21 budget. Fried said a tentative draft budget sits at $30,980,759, which is an increase of $982,014 or 3.27% from the current year’s budget. The tax levy is estimated at $25,174,282, an increase of $557.672, or 2.27%.

“Given the governor’s explanation that there will be or may be quarterly state aid reductions, depending on how state money is spent and received, our current thought is to assign more of our district fund balance to reduce the tax levy in order to keep our taxpayers out of harm’s way,” said Fried. “We look forward to receiving additional information and guidance from the state.”   

Upon the recommendation of Mitchell, the board amended a resolution it acted upon at its March 17 meeting, appointing Elliot Garcia as director of Technology and Data Services for a probationary period. Garcia will now serve a four-year probationary term, effective April 1 through March 31, 2024, at an annual salary rate of $117,000, pro-rated for the 2019-20 school year, effective April 1 through June 30.

Assistant Superintendents Fried and Caroline Hernandez Pidala were appointed co-coordinators for the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), which was made into law in 2010 by New York state. DASA seeks to eliminate discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment and bullying on school property, school buses and/or at school functions for New York’s public elementary and secondary school students.

An enrollment update was given: Elm Drive has 173 students; Alden Place has 199 students: Millbrook Middle School has 214 students; Millbrook High School has 289 students. Among the district’s four schools, there’s a total of 875 students.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21.